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Tips to get the best property sale price in a falling market

Journalist: Callum Mason, i

ended 10. August 2023

In a market where house prices are falling slightly, what are the best tips to ensure you get as good a sale price as possible?

Do you need to avoid pricing too high? Get your property on the market at a certain time etc?

7 responses from the Newspage community

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Gary Edgar
Managing Director at E Surveyors
Sellers should always do their best to de-clutter and turn their property into a home that a buyer could move straight into, even if they’d want to make some alterations themselves. Many homebuyers buy in to the lifestyle of the current owners, so portray a happy home. Open a couple of windows and ensure it has a nice smell as you enter. Cut the grass. As the buyer walks around your home, focus on the positives. If the garden is the best feature, leave it til last and spend time chatting there so they get used to it, so it feels like they are already home. For the buyer, most important of all, get a Level 2 or 3 survey from a qualified RICS Surveyor. Even if you have agreed a price, it gives you a second chance to renegotiate if issues arise from the survey that you were not aware of before. Ask questions as to why they are moving, to make sure you find a motivated seller. Equally, if you're a buyer and you find a desperate seller, you might just stumble upon a bargain.
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Michelle Lawson
Director at Lawson Financial
As with everything the devil is in the detail. You need to ensure that you have made the most of your property and it is presented well. For instance, if you are moving as you have outgrown it, de-clutter for photos and viewings otherwise potential buyers may think the property is too small for them. Could you freshen up with a coat of paint, is everywhere clean, does it smell fresh, are the gardens/outdoor areas clean and tidy, are beds made nicely, window coverings arranged nicely? If you have some quirks to your property or anything that you particularly like, tell the agent to ensure they mention on the viewings or the details. The key is a good agent who knows your area that you can work together with- did you road test them as a potential buyer before you marketed with them? This is a good marker on how they will sell your property and treat your potential buyers.
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Stephen Perkins
Managing Director at Yellow Brick Mortgages
The best way in my view to achieve the highest possible price for your property is to ensure it isn't listed at too high a price, listing at one of the price points on Rightmove/Zoopla to be top of a search page. Choosing an agent who will give you a premium listing on the portals, who has the best photos to show off your property (be sure to tidy up and de-clutter) and utilise social media and videos to showcase your property. I would also highly recommend a For-Sale board as this attracts potential buyers who were not thinking of moving until they got curious having seen your For-Sale board. Sometimes also worth arranging an Open-house viewing day, to get plenty of viewings and interest and then hopefully competing bids.
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Graham Cox
Director at Bridging Hub
The last thing you want to be doing in a falling market is chasing the market down. To get the best price and quickly, your property asking price should be set value slightly below similar properties in your neighbourhood. That will give you the best chance of receiving competing offers and securing a favourable deal, possibly above asking.

Avoid being tied into any one estate agent, and beware those promising sky-high valuations to win your instruction. The best agents will level with you about what it will take to sell your property quickly.
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Rhys Schofield
Brand Director at Peak Mortgages and Protection
It's no good just choosing whoever tells you that your house is worth the most with nothing to back it up just so they can win your listing. All that will happen is that your house will sit online for months on end and you'll be reducing it anyway. Go with an estate agent that is realistic about price from the off. The estate agent that tells you what you need to hear is always better than the estate agent that tells you what you want to hear.
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Joe Garner
Founder & Managing Director at Joe Garner Consulting
Buyers need to see and feel that they are getting value for money. Make sure the indoor and outdoor spaces give the buyers an ability to picture their finished home.

Remove all clutter without exception, shampoo and hoover the carpets and put simple, white and bright light fittings in each room.

Clear the garden and cut the grass if you have one, clean and replace any mouldy sealants around the bath and if needed steam clean tiles.

Clean the windows inside and out and give any rooms that have garish or unusual colours two coats of a basic white emulsion.

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Clive Read
Owner at Goldmanread
We're living through a time of pricing uncertainty in the property market. Rising rates are effecting affordability meaning buyers budgets are constrained. All of this means that any seller coming to the market has to have realistic expectations about the value of their property. In order to get the best price sellers should take account of the following factors:
Time - If a seller is not under any stress to sell i.e. as part of a property chain etc. then they can wait for the right buyer to come along.
Property Condition - Make sure that your property is in the best cosmetic condition possible to attract buyers.
Estate Agents - Make sure that you instruct an agent who is going to proactively market your property even when the market is quiet. Regular communication and feedback from agents is essential when trying to get a good price.
Finally be realistic, whats a the best price in the current market? Look around your are at comparable properties and try and price in line with these.